Visual Poetry

Andrea Marcante and Adelaide Testa have combined pink clay partitions with materials such as copper and plexiglass inside Imarika boutique, a trendy spot for womenswear in Milan's Porta Venezia district, offering an exclusive selection of pieces from emerging fashion designers.

The renovation project, signed by Turin-based design studio Marcante-Testa, is divided by a pink screen made from clay, which also showcases shoes, bags or accessories. “The horizontality of the display cases is offset by a system of struts made of copper tubing inset with woven braid trim, which support the hanging rails and direct the gaze towards the decorative ceiling”, added the studio. The ceiling, made in plaster with an undulating pattern, becomes “a sort of upside-down carpet”, also a central element of the decoration.

“The architectural landscape” is inspired by the aesthetic of retail spaces created in the 1950s for Italian typewriter manufacturer Olivetti. The formal expression and the consideration of material – from the clay to the pink briar wood used for the hexagonal display cases and the sales counter, as well as the white gloss laminate, the plexiglass, the copper and trimmings – do not interfere with the architectural shell.